There are over 50 communities in Lake County. As the demographics of each community varies wildly, so does the quality of each town’s website.

I checked out the web sites from a commuter’s point of view. Namely, I looked for the following:

Does the community’s website have a section dedicated to its road maintenance program (if it has one)? Usually, Public Works assumes this role.

Is road construction information easy to find on the community’s website?

Does the community provide electronic updates to residents regarding road maintenance, via the website, email or automated phone messages?

Is the community’s road maintenance web page updated regularly?

Does the community’s website provide exceptional convenience to residents who have road maintenance concerns?

Admittedly, there is variation amongst communities regarding the amount of road construction performed. It’s not fully clear to me as to which communities don’t handle road construction at all. Perhaps reader insight can help clarify these things.

I also emphasize that this is not a review of “Best Overall Community Websites.” I tried to focus primarily on the motorist/commuter features.

With that said, here are my picks for Lake County’s most informative community websites for motorists and commuters:

Progress-oriented: Per Highland Park’s website, “In Fiscal Year 2006, the City launched a five year program to upgrade City streets. ” The City developed a Pavement Condition Index and assigned a rating to each city street. It sounds like an ambitious plan, and this Lake County Motorist is eager to see how it plays out. The web page hasn’t been updated since 2007.

Winter detail: Vernon Hills’ website includes the village’s snow and ice removal plan, presented as a massive 19MB PDF. I applaud the Village for providing such a detailed document to the public, but it would be nice if an abridged version were also available for download.

Better in winter: Libertyville’s website didn’t appear to list any construction updates, but the site lists comprehensive information regarding snow plowing routes and timing. The site lists the specific streets the Village is responsible for plowing, comprising one of the most detailed lists of its kind among the community websites (Zion also provides a similarly detailed street name list).

Wauconda publishes infrastructure construction updates to a dedicated section of its website. Projects are grouped as Approved or Planned. Road projects are a part of, but not the only component of, these lists.

Convenience for residents: Residents can file requests for many village services online, including pothole patching, street light repair, and restoration requests. Users can even request new street signs and (presumably) traffic signals online.

Cons: Grayslake’s Construction Updates web page provides only one-liner project descriptions and updates regarding village construction, including roadwork. I would like to see more comprehensive information provided on this page, such as project start date and end date. The web page directs readers to file a request for service to obtain more details – not very user-friendly for non-residents (or is that the point?)

Cons: No firm dates published yet for projects slated to begin “soon” such as Washington Street construction (which was delayed due to ongoing construction on the Route 120 bridge over I-94) and the Grand Avenue resurfacing. However, this is not a major “con”. The lack of firm dates is understandable, because some of these projects depend on other roadwork to be completed first.

Dig those construction updates: Hats off to Deerfield for posting comprehensive roadwork updates on the village’s website. The updates include a weekly Construction Forecast listing the work plans by-day, by-street. The village lists projects for which they are responsible, as well as those under other jurisdiction such as the ISTHA and the County.

Fortunately, so far it appears that Lake County has been able to fund key projects and even escalate others as their need has increased. Money has even been spent on projects whose purpose I don’t fully understand (such as 2007’s Wilson Road resurfacing).

Here’s what’s on tap for Lake County commuters this week: A (temporarily) two-lane Tri-State for Monday morning’s commute, the last of the Lake County Community Forums, a Town Hall meeting, and a 60-degree exit for March.